iconfu beta

Name That Colour

Simple online utility that converts between colour names and RGB values

On evolution of icons in graphical interfaces

"The article describes the background and the detailed history of computer icons featured in graphical interfaces ??? complete with visual examples and short descriptions of 21 interfaces (from 1981???s Xerox Star to upcoming BeOS Zeta). There is also a breakdown of various icon properties (such as size, style or number of colours). The article ends with a quick glimpse into the future and a conclusion that the icons are not necessarily evolving into the most desirable direction, focusing more on the visuals than the functionality."

Es Developed

This blog features regular articles on icon collections, graphic design, and web design

10 mistakes in icon design

The classic "don't do this" icon design guide by Denis Kortunov from turbomilk. Headlines:

- Insufficient differentiation between icons
- Too many elements in one icon
- Unnecessary elements
- Lack of unity of style within a set of icons
- Unnecessary perspective and shadows in small icons
- Overly original metaphors
- National or social characteristics not being taken into account
- Images of real interface elements in icons
- Text inside icons
- Outside the pixel framework

Read the article for more detail and illustrations.

vector alphabet & numeric buttons (non-cc)

"This set is a variety pack of free vector glass buttons and bars for your webpage or blog. Since they are in vector format, they can be easily manipulated and scaled to fit your layout without having to worry about pixellation." - these are vector buttons so they you'll need a vector package to adapt them. But they're very pretty, and great if you need alphabet icons, if you were simulating a keyboard for example. The license appears to be CC-ish but not explicitly so.

"vaga" icons (non-cc)

Vaga is a non-creative-commons licensed icon set from tenbytwenty that's otherwise free for use. 60 colourful, pretty png icons including user icons, shopping carts, arrows, multimedia buttons, documents, phones among others.

More Silk Icons

Extra Silk Icons by Damien Guard who thought (like the rest of us) that the original Silk Icon set was so good it should get bigger. Available under Creative Commons 2.5

really cute school icons (non-cc)

This is a collection of cutesy school icons - stationery, children, teachers, everything to do with school life, from the School Icons Club

7 principles of effective icon design

Sean Hodge lives on the beach in Venezuela and writes tutorials about icon design. I'm jealous. In any case, the title of this article says it all. It's photoshop-oriented, but the principles are generic.

list of sites offering free icons

1st Web Designer, Dainis Graveris, has yet another amazing collection of icon freebie sites

not including iconfu this time, unfortunately :(

Designing An Iconic Language

A 2007 article by Yegor Gilyov describes the concept of building an icon language as a preliminary step to developing icon sets for applications. The approach improves usability as well as simplifying the process of creating new icons - the grammar of your language guides you and the words are your pre-existing icon components.

Beware of Ambiguous Icons

Sometimes, word are just better than icons. I hate to admit it. This article explains why and when with insightful examples.

Free Icons

handy icon sets

Anatomy of an Icon

"I can't tell you how to create an icon - but I can tell you the steps I take to create an icon. There may be easier ways. There may be better ways. Here's a quick look at the methods and techniques I used to create an icon from the Overcast set." - simplebits author

Design Melt Down: Icon Usage

"The use of icons in design is not likely to ever end. The practice of summing up lots of information in a little package will never go away. It all boils down to the most rapid form of communcation possible. Design is in fact all about communication (even if you don't realize it or belive it). These fine examples of icons put them to work in interesting and useful ways." - Patrick McNeil (read all 3 sections!)

Specky Boy

Speckyboy Design Magazine launched in October 2007 and covers every aspect of web design and development offering FREE and HIGH QUALITY RESOURCES as well as attempting to inspire through our showcases. Pointers to lots of great web resources.

free icons from smashing magazine

"Flavour" icons by Oliver Twardowski, a graphic designer from Bonn, Germany, and "Cute Tweeters" by the talented Mirjami Manninen, an illustrator from Finland.

Bitmap is Better than Vector

Josh from Firewheel Design explains why for small icons, bitmap formats (.png, .gif etc) are a superior choice to vector formats.

Use Gradient to Create Curved Surfaces

Shows how to make the base of a curvy, shiny button that can be used as a theme for many other icons. Also covers contrast control, and working with copies.

Manipulate Colour Levels

Describes how to use the colour-levels feature to control brightness and contrast in an icon.